Just hours ago Dave Gallik announced that he is resigning from his post as Political Practices Commissioner, a position he was appointed to last year by Governor Schweitzer. This move comes after four employees in his office came forward with official complaints that Gallik has improperly conducted private business from his State office.
This story is shocking (yet not surprising) for two reasons. Gallik becomes the second Schweitzer appointee in less than a year to resign from office over allegations of corruption. Last year former Director of the Department of Transportation, Jim Lynch, resigned after charges that he broke Montana’s nepotism laws. Also, Gallik has been a donor to Steve Bullock’s campaign, which presented a case of clear corruption itself. Steve Bullock began illegally raising money to campaign for Governor last year. When charges were brought against Bullock for campaign violations, Gallik quickly dismissed the charges against Bullock.
This is just another example of Schweitzer’s cronyism in Helena. When voters go to the polls this November, I hope they will remember what is going on in Helena now, and not send another crony like Bullock to the Governor’s office.
